Slush pump



. Aug. 24 1926.

1,597,156 H. H. HOLDAWAY ET AL SLUSH. PUMP Filed Nov. 6, 1924 Patented Au 24, 1926.

UNITED STATE-S 1,597,15ii Parser OFFICE.

HALL H. HOLDAWAY, or Lee sneer-ins. AND THOMAS n. CAMPBELL, or rasannrm, CALIFORNIA.

SLUSH roivrr.

Application filed November 6, 1924. Serial l lo. 748,089.

This invention relates to the. type (it pumps that are used in the construction of oil wells tor pumping flushing fluid down into the wells, such flushing fluid generally consisting of a. more or less thickened mixture of mud and water.

The slush pump in the present use requires a great deal o'trepair work and has a relatively short life for the reason that the mud pump operates to cut out very rapidly the packing of the pump piston. The general construction of the slush pump in common use embodies a pumping chamber with in which is positioned a piston, the chamber being closed at both ends so that the piston may ordinarily force the fluid out from the opposite sides of the piston. When it is necessary to repair the piston or packing, it is necessary to take off the head at one end of the piston to reach the packing and frequently necessary to removethe liner of the pump chamber. This involves a considerable loss of time and expense.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pump for this class ofwork which will be less affected by the mud being pumped and the parts of which may be more readily repaired as the same wear. In carrying out our invention, in place of employing a piston within the pump chamber, we employ a long plunger which extends out from the chamber and in place of providing any packing between the chamber and pisten, the plunger is packed eXteriorly of the chamber where such packing is readily accessible for repair. Moreover, the plunger is made of substantially less diameter than the diameter of the chamber so that wear of mud upon thechamber walls is substan tially reduced. With such a pump is incorporated means adjacent the packingto guide the mud in the pump and permit the same to settle so that the mud does not tend to force its way between the packingand the plunger, thereby preventing such mud from tearing out the packing of the plunger.

' In addition, in carrying out this invention,

we provide a means by which such settled mud may be withdrawn as desired from the pump chamber.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means in such a pump for pre venting mud settling and packing in the chamber below the pump.

Another object of the present invention is to providea pump of this type with a re movable shell for the plunger, whereby upon such wear of the plunger as takes place a new shell may be provided without requiring the replacement of an entire new plunger.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from a' descrip= tion of a preferred embodiment of our in vention, for which piirpose reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings:

i ure 1 is an elevation ot a pump embodying the invention, part of the figure bein'gl in section.

2 is an enlarged sectional view of the packing and mud removing means.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 41- is a detail partially in section of the plunger and cross bar connections therefor. Fig. 5 is a detail of certain modifications in the mud settling means of the pump which may be incorporated in such pump as is shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a pump casing providing two aligned pump chambers 23 and 3, said chambers being separated by a transverse wall i. 5 and 6, respective]y, indicate plungers mounted to reciprocate within the chambers 2 ant. 3, respectively, each of the plungers being of a length sufiicient to extend eXteriorly of the pump chamber and to permit such plungers to be there packed. As shown in Fig. 3, the ends of the pump chambers 2 and 3 are provided with annular 7 through which bolts 8 extend, said bolts maintaining a. packing box 9 to the casing 1 of the pump,

the packing boxes 9 being proidded with an annular recess 11 around the plungers, which recess 11 disposed at the end of the packing box adjacent the pump chambers and is deepened at its lower end as indicated at 1:2 to provide a mud settling chamber 13, To the bottom of the mud settling chamber is connected pet cock 14, which may be opened and closed as desired to discharge fluid or mud from the chamber 18. Beyond the recess 11, the packing box is tapered as at 15 to receive an annular packing seat 16. 17 indicates a gland held to the packing box 9 by bolts 18, the gland 17 engaging packing material 19 surrounding the plunger 5 or 6, and may be screwed ing. The cross bar 21 is connected to a rod 23 by which the pump may be actuated from any suitable source of power.

Any suitable connection of inlet and exhaust valves may be supplied for the pump chambers 2 and 3, such exhaust and inlet valves being diagrammatically ind cated as enclosed within a valve head 24 for the pump, the head 24 carrying inlet valves 25 and 26 connected to inlet line 27 and carrying exhaust valves 28'and 29 connected with discharge line 30.

The plungers 2 and 3 are preferably of substantially less diameter than the entire diameter of the pump chambers 2 and 3, so as to decrease wear upon the pump chambers and inner ends of the plungers. The front ends of the plungers are preferably provided with mud stirring arms 31, which extend below the bottom of the plungers, in order to stir up mud at the bottom of the pump chambers and prevent such mud from becoming packed.

Each of the plungers are preferably provided with a detachable sleeve 32 forming the exterior surface of the plungers so that upon wear of the plungers by replacement of the. sleeve, the pump may be repaired without expense or supplying an entire new plunger. The sleeves may be secured to the plungers in any suitable manner as in the drawings the sleeves are indicated as having a closed inner end 33 by which the sleeve may be attached to the plungers by pins 34.

In operation a pump of this class will successfully handle mud or other fluid containing a large amount of foreign matter without placing the operator to a great deal of expense or labor whenever it becomes necessary to repair packing of the pump, the packing being located exteriorly or outside of the pump plunger is readily accessible. Any mud or other foreign matter attempting to work into the packing will be trapped in the mud settling chamber 13 where there is little agitation and such mud or foreign matter will settle and can be removed as desired byopening the cock 14.

Referring to Fig. 5, the mud settling chamber is shown provided with a plurality of diaphragms 35 extending around the plunger of the pump so as to separate the chamber into a plurality of compartments to assist in maintaining the fluid mud therein in quiescent state, such diaphragms being supported within the chamber in any suitable manner such as by pins 36.

lVhile the form of slush pump herein de scribed is well suited for the purposes of this invention, various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from he spirit of the invention. The invention is therefore not limited to the details of slush pump heretofore described, but is of the scope set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A slush pump comprising a pump chamber, an outside packing plunger oper ative to reciprocate within the chamber, and mud settling and removing means connected with the chamber.

2. A slush pump comprising a pump chamber, an outside packing plunger operative to reciprocate within the chamber, and mud settl ng and removing means connected with the chamber between the packing of the plunger and chamber.

3. A slush pump, comprising a pump chamber, an outside packing plunger operative to reciprocate within the chamber, the plunger being of substantially smaller diameter than the diameter of the chamber, and means carried by the plunger operative to prevent mud packing there below.

' 4. A slush pump, comprising a pump chamber, an outside packing plunger operative to reciprocate within the chamber, mud settling and removing means connected with the chamber and means carried by the plunger to prevent packing of mud there below.

5. A slush pump comprising a pump chamber, an outside packing plunger operative to reciprocate within the chamber, a mud settling chamber connected between the packing of the plunger and said chamber, and a plurality of spaced diaphragms within said mud settling chamber.

Signed at Hardin, Montana, by TrioMAs 'D. CAMPBELL, this 18th day of October, 1924.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, by HALL H. I-IoLnAwAY, this 10th day of September, 1924.

HALL H. HOLDAl VAY. THOMAS D. CAMPBELL. 

